Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

One hundred and twenty-four days have elapsed since the citizens voted in the general election. That democratic vote has been parked for what is now one third of a year. We are experiencing an unprecedented democratic deficit in this State.

Many people outside the Leinster House bubble are shocked at the slow pace of the seemingly never-ending negotiations that now seem to be stalling and getting nowhere. I am using a couple of seconds at the start of my contribution again to urge the parties currently involved in negotiations to speed up the process and make a decision rapidly. It is a very dangerous position for many reasons.

We owe front-line workers a huge debt of gratitude because of the work they have been doing and a similar debt to the public for adhering to the requests from medical experts and pushing down the incidence of the disease to a manageable level. Some significant sections of Irish society have been left behind, however. There is no doubt that children with special needs have been left behind. Elderly people in nursing homes have similarly been left behind while staff in those homes have been crying out for personal protective equipment, oxygen supplies and extra staffing. There is no doubt that people in direct provision centres have been left behind, as well as workers in meat factories and hospital staff.

A section of society will probably suffer most from what is happening but we could do something radical about it right now. It may be the case that people who have had their health services suspended or stopped because of this Covid-19 crisis could be the section of society most affected by it. They are not included in current daily statistics but I have no doubt that they will be included some day.

Deputy Alan Kelly asked both a few minutes ago and last week the level of forecasting and modelling done by the Government to identify morbidity and mortality arising from the lack of health services in so many areas. He got no answer today in the same way he got no answer last week. I can provide the answer. There is absolutely no modelling or forecasting being done. I asked the HSE that question three weeks ago and it indicated it was involved in no such forecasting or modelling of the level of morbidity and mortality arising from a lack of services.

I have no doubt that at the start of the crisis, we saw a shocking wave emerging from Europe and coming in our direction and it was necessary to prepare all the hospital services to be reoriented to this crisis. Given the figures we have seen throughout society, there is absolutely no excuse for us not to try to reorient back the services, as best we can, to the areas they are needed.

I raise the matter of cancer screening. I spoke to a woman this morning who was meant to get a skin cancer test done in April to check if there had been any changes in her skin but that was postponed until June and the appointment has now been put back to December. Obviously, many people in such a position will find themselves materially worse off from a health perspective by the end of this year and into the next year.

We in Aontú have been highly vocal in repeatedly raising the issue of cancer screening. A decision was made in March to cancel breast and cervical cancer screenings but was the Minister involved in making that decision? When asked, the HSE indicated this happened on foot of Government advice. Did the Minister know a decision had been made on cancellation of cancer screening services? Why did the Minister not tell the House about that decision? When I looked back on the press statements made by the Government, that information is not there. Will the Minister answer those questions first?

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